International Human Resources Practice in the United States - Assignment Example

?International Human Resources Practice in The United s Table of Contents Introduction 3 Cultural Aspects Related to International Human Resource Management 4 Recruitment 4 Induction 6 Customer Service 7 Social Aspects Related to International Human Resource Management 8 Recruitment 8 Induction 9 Customer Service 10 Economical Aspects Related to International Human Resource Management 11 Recruitment 11 Induction 12 Customer Service 12 Political Aspects Related to International Human Resource Management 13 Recruitment 13 Induction 14 Customer Service 15 Conclusion 16 References 17 Introduction ‘Human Resource Management’ (HRM) is the term used to define different processes required for managing the employees in an organisation. It has been observed that majority of the organisations worldwide do value their people-asset, i.e. employees. Human resource managers tend to develop various strategies to improve the qualities of the employees through training and development. Traditionally, the role of human resource managers was associated with recruitment and selecting the right candidate for the job. However, modern day requirements are much higher than the traditional processes. The managers require developing strategies for the employees in order to support the overall organisational objectives. A few factors have influenced HR Managers while deciding upon the appropriate approaches to effective management of the employees. The external factors are influencing largely to the human resource practices such as recruitment, induction and customer service. These factors may include the cultural, political, social and economical situations of a country that largely need to be considered while practicing human resource management. Thus, these factors prevalent within the United States need to be assessed by the organisations before an appropriate model for optimum utilisation of human resources can be designed. As suggested by Mueller and Clarke (1998), the US based HRM approach is a merit-based reward system that focuses on the incremental compensation for the exchange of performance. They further added that this approach cannot be applied in all countries. It is the culture and nationality that play an imperative role in decision making and distribution processes. According to Armstrong (2006), the prime goal of human resource management is to enable strategic planning which will develop the employees to contribute on the organisations success. As observed by Hofstede (n.d.), through the 5-D model, the national culture of the US is individualistic in nature, which has influenced the organisational culture. Thus, it can be said that individualism prevails among the employees of the organisation. Furthermore, it can be assumed that HRM in the US is focussed on the individual employees, rather than teams. Thus, strategies that will benefit an individual employee, and motivate him/her for producing efficient working skills are designed by HR professionals. Internationalisation of companies has led to following various cultures based on the local culture of the US. The US is the headquartered to many international companies which are spread all over the world. Therefore, it can be assumed that the culture of US is followed in majority of the companies branches spread across the globe. Thus, it is equally essential for HR managers to find a healthy balance between the global organisational culture and local culture of the country. Cultural Aspects Related to International Human Resource Management Recruitment It has been observed that the initial stage in the International Human Resource Management (IHRM) process is the recruitment of the appropriate candidate exclusively for the job. This is an important task of the HR personnel as the candidate’s behaviour and knowledge will be reflected in the working environment of the organisation. As observed by Denning (1998), cultural differences have embarked on the recruitment procedures of employees by HR professionals. Furthermore, the racism factors such as the presence of White and Black people in the US have reflected at times to make the HR managers to be biased while selection. However, he concluded that this racism factor was prevailing in the US organisations before the World War-II. Thus, to protect citizens, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has introduced laws against race/colour discrimination that will guard employees from getting biased treatment from the HR managers (U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 2012). In this context, an example of Gap, Inc can be drawn which while recruiting employees gives importance to their philosophical culture known as ‘Wear your passion’, that suggests the creativity and the excellent results that they deliver (Gap Inc., 2012). According to Thomas & et. al. (1994), gender inequality in the US was considered as an influential component while recruiting employees. They further suggest that initially the male counterparts were preferred for the managerial positions. However, they state that researches conducted in the modern days have shown that women are equally likely as men in management positions. Organisations in present day context are providing more emphasis upon the credentials of a candidate rather than the focusing upon the gender aspect while making a selection of appropriate candidate (Thomas & et. al., 1994). As observed by Hofstede & Hofstede (2001), the national culture in the US consists of individualistic trait which has influenced the organisational culture. Thus, it can be assumed that the IHRM policies for the recruitment process will focus on the individualistic nature of the employee. The organisations in the US expect personal contribution and achievements that will sum up to the overall organisational goals. Induction Induction or training is followed just after the recruitment process is over. Induction can be of two types namely, introduction of processes in the working environment to the newly recruited and providing training to existing staff for better output. However, training is also provided to the existing employees for any change in processes or for introducing modern techniques for efficient working environment. Thomas & et. al. (1994), discussed that problems in terms of training can arise due to the communication gap between the trainer and the trainee. Furthermore, they suggest that the cultural background can be a barrier in training or induction programmes. They further recommend that training specifically directed towards the need of the individual employee may be a great choice for the HR professional as time and costs could be saved. According to Molander & Winterton (1994), there are various forms of Key Performance Indicators (KPI) that assess the training needs of the employees. They further said that the induction programmes should be regarded as an investment and not the immediate cost included in the budget. Thus, it can be stated that in order to provide effective induction programmes, good KPI’s are essential for the HR professionals to judge the training needs. Furthermore, it can be suggested that Firm Specific Human Capital (FSHC) can be a good choice for the IHRM as training and development of employees’ skills specifically with regard to the organisations’ need, will prove to augment the expertise of the employee. FSHC is referred to the training provided to the employees that are exclusively related to a particular organisation. This approach of training is essential to make the employees’ specialised in the tasks that are generally used by the company (Lazear, 2004). Customer Service Organisations that deal with non-products are generally conducting businesses through services. According to Hofstede (2001), cultural dimensions have an effect on the customer relationship management or the services provided by the organisations. He further observed that individualism culture prevails while providing services to the customers. The employees of the organisation concentrate on individual customer’s requirements and ensure that harmony and trust can be established with the customer. Thus, it is assumed that every customer expects different approach from the service perspective. Therefore, the American culture is best suited as services could be focussed on each customer which will enable the organisations to develop their customers’ base. For instance, Warner Brothers Studio has created and has diverse products that ensure customer to experience a new innovation every time they visit their studios (Warner Bros Entertainment, 2008). As observed by Wursten & et. al. (2009), employee satisfaction is inter-related with customer service. They further said it is the front-line employees that represent the organisation towards the customers and are responsible for successful marketing of company’s product or service. Moreover, they concluded that competent employees who can perform good job are satisfied and thus, keep the customer happy with their services. Therefore, it is presumed that proper induction and training is required for developing the competencies of the employees. Thus, IHRM team in an organisation should make sure that they have the best in class training and development programmes that will enable their employees to provide excellent services to the customers (Interdependent, 2012). Social Aspects Related to International Human Resource Management Recruitment According to the recent social recruiting trends followed in the US, there are four methods that are given priority while selecting the right candidate for the job. These methods are uses of top social networking sites, talent communities, job marketing and social applicant tracking systems by the HR professionals to view the candidate’s credentials for the job. It further provides employees and employers with clear requirements of the job qualifications, expectations, network building skills and productive referral engagements. The fast growing and popularising Facebook, LinkedIn along with Twitter are few of the social networking sites that have enabled HR professionals to attract desired candidate. Moreover, it has enabled recruiters to influence potential candidates through the wide reach and large users. Furthermore, organisations are placing advertisements in these social networking sites to fill up their vacant position without investing in other ways of recruitment (Cachinko LLC, 2011). Talent communities have appeared from the traditional sayings i.e. talent pools. According to Kevin Wheeler, a ‘talent management expert’, talent pools are different from talent communities. He said that talent pools generally consisted of the database of the candidate, whereas talent communities allow the candidate and the employer to have an interaction between them about the specifications of the job offered. It further provides advantages like sharing ideas and opinions, feeling of being engaged and included, openness and trust and sharing of parallel value to both (Cachinko LLC, 2011). Induction As observed by Hofstede (n.d.), American society consists of multicultural and economical diversities, i.e. substantial differences in people’s wealth, income, education and occupation are prevalent. The presence of people from different societies across nations due to involvement of internationalisation of companies has led to flow of different culture in the organisations. Thus, a HR professional while deciding an effective training and induction programme should keep in mind the cultural diversity factor that could have been prevailing in the organisation. Furthermore, the HR personnel might face few challenges while providing training and development to the employees. It can cost more to the organisation as different cultures of employees can influence HR professional to have various induction programmes. Moreover, familiarising the newly recruited with the environment of the organisation can also depend upon the social background of the employee. Candidates from lower social class background may feel uncomfortable if the working environment mostly consists of employees from higher social class background. Thus, HR personnel should consider individual employees’ social status while making him/her familiar with other employees in the workplace. Customer Service As stated by Baird & Parasnis (2011), companies have been shifting their focus from traditional customer services methods to social customer relations management. Organisations are using social media to improve customer engagement. They further suggest that social media can be defined as an environment in which the customer controls the relationship with the employees of an organisation. They also added that customers have the power to influence others who are among his/her social network. Thus, it can be stated that organisations now-a-days try to stay connected with customers through social networking sites which are available free of costs. Research conducted by different organisations showed that social media helps in engagement of the customers rather than customer management. Marketing of companies’ services can be promoted through Facebook or certain other social networking sites where information related to the company or campaigns for interactions with the customers’ may be available. Along with that customer’s queries can be handled by representatives that may be employed by the HR personnel, through social forums. Economical Aspects Related to International Human Resource Management Recruitment As stated by Rees and French, in a survey conducted by Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) in the year 2009 found out that half of the companies surveyed across the United Kingdom have claimed to be affected by the recession, which was having an unfavourable influence on the company’s funds for employee resourcing and employment activities. Most of the organisations were focussed on retaining instead of recruiting talent in the recession period. Moreover, employees felt that the employers will use the recession period as an opportunity for leaving out unproductive performers and bring in cultural change in the organisation. They further suggested that the traditional process of interviewing was not at all reliable in terms of judging the performance skills of the employees. Thus, the HR professionals require developing an appropriate evaluation process that will be cost effective to the organisation, which will prove the future prospect of the candidate (French & Rumbles, 2010). Furthermore, it has been observed by French & et. al. (2011), organisations in the US tend to employ people who share their own culture. This has highly risen because of the economic downturn faced by the country. Cultural diversity in workforce can fluctuate in the productivity of the employees. Therefore, HR professionals at times tend to stick to recruiting similar culture based employees in order to sustain in the competitive market globally. It has also been noted that companies are focussing on e-recruitment models through their websites that benefit in terms of cost efficiencies. Induction Induction or training programs is generally considered as an investment by the organisation to develop employee skills. As cited by Cunha & Heckman (2007), many skills and abilities and remediation provided to the employees later may be costlier and disadvantageous than providing early training in order to achieve an expected level of performance. Thus, it can be assumed that training and induction programmes in an economic crisis can lead to insufficient training of the employees due to the involvement of higher costs associated with it. Therefore, the HR personnel are more concerned about the returns generated through the talent development programmes. As suggested by Vorhaus (2009), training in the workplace is observed to create modest average gains, while average performance improves since the post-instruction period. This suggests that trainers used literacy skills enthusiastically, in and out of the organisation. Thus, it can be concluded that on-the-job training provides practical experiences to the employees that enable them to learn quickly. It also helps in improving their problem solving as well as decision making skills. Furthermore, it may be cost effective as simulation training required for certain jobs can be avoided. Customer Service As observed by Garner (2004), the service sector industries are offshoring employment to low-wage countries due to the economic downturn and gain profit through low operating cost that affected many organisations in the US. One of the key aspects for companies to preserve their customer base is the services provided to them effectively and quickly. Companies are requiring the need of efficient employees who will be responsible for providing excellent services to their customers. Thus, the HR professionals need to attract and retain employees through incentives other than monetary benefits. This will be an added advantage to the company in a recession hit economy. Furthermore, HR personnel develop various training techniques and tips that are required for providing cost effectual customer services. This may include providing online solutions to customers that will enable providing quick services with charging less cost to the consumers. Therefore, the consumers will remain loyal to the organisation as they will feel that companies are concerned about the downturned economy while deciding in the service cost. Political Aspects Related to International Human Resource Management Recruitment Recruitment and selection processes can be affected due to the impact of political influences in a country or state. Generally, the national regulations are followed which to a certain extent can be a barrier to the recruited employees. For instance, the expatriate factor can be considered an issue faced by the HR personnel in the US. Policies drawn up by the government can oppose the decisions of the organisations in recruiting appropriate talent. It was evident in the recession period, when the government of the US introduced policies that prevented companies to recruit foreign employees (McLaughlan & Salt, 2002). This was mainly done to increase employment opportunities that had been affected due to the economic crisis. Contradictorily, talented candidates’ availability chances can be increased due to the political stability of US which is house to numerous Multinational Corporations (MNCs). A country’s political stability ensures a sense of security to the employee’s job. Thus, HR personnel may have been designing attractive recruitment packages which can be the reason of attaining a workforce of talented workers (Cieri & et. al., 2005). Induction Trade plays an imperative role while deciding the training policies of the companies in the US. Although the companies are having negative impacts due to trade on unskilled US workers, they continue to be favoured in the open and free trade markets. Moreover, recent trends have shown that companies prefer low trained workers, as the wage difference with the highly experienced workers is huge. Thus, the companies are employing low skilled labourers and providing them effective training to develop their skills. The government has also developed policies for supporting additional training (Lerman & Schmidt, n.d.). Furthermore, it has been noted that the Trade Adjustment Assistance were not retraining employees rather than extending unemployment benefits. The government policies strictly require employees to take up training courses that will benefit in developing their skills. However, many employees accepted the benefits, as they are aware that government policies do not allow them to take up alternative jobs, who have availed the unemployment benefits (Lerman & Schmidt, n.d.). Customer Service According to Penin & Tonkinwise (2009), many organisations in the US do not promote inventiveness in the workplace as they feel that customers and employees together will take their organisations to an unexpected place. They further suggest that the key to effective customer service is to avoid binding employees with numerous rules and let them innovate ideas that will make the customers’ happy from their services. Overall, this strategy will help in improving the reputation of a company. Thus, it can be stated that HR professionals practicing effective IHRM policies in the US may be employing the same technique as in many multinational organisations. Conclusion The practice of IHRM in the US is mostly based on different factors that have been discussed. Though majority of the MNC are situated throughout the large geographical boundary of the US, it is pre-assumed that factors relating to economical, social, political and cultural are mostly based on the country’s factors. The IHRM is a crucial department that needs huge focus from the managerial level. The role of the HR professionals has changed due to the fast changing world. From the traditional role of the HR manager, more challenging roles have been imposed on them that they need to perform for the success of the organisation in the long run. Furthermore, managing human capital and recruitment of the appropriate candidate have made the role of an HR crucial. Therefore, it can be concluded that though recession hampered the economy of the country i.e. US, initiatives from the political perspectives have enabled the employees to safeguard their jobs. 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